I
didn’t know I was signing up for a holiday of trouble when I told the school librarian
that I was interested in reading Ben Okri’s book, Starbook. I sighted it on a shelf alongside WAEC and NECO
recommended texts in my school library. I hadn’t read an Okri book till then,
not even the popular The Famished Road.
Now, there are things I don’t do. One of them is pretending that I have read a
particular book or author when I haven’t.
That’s just me. So, I didn’t think so much about whether or not I was
going to borrow the book though something in me quizzed what prompted such a
terrifying presence in a secondary school library. Yes, anything Okri should be
a terror to a couple of secondary students I know. I have read one of his books
and can say that (again). Fast forward to some minutes after I sighted the
book, I was on my way to my apartment, the bulky book under my armpit. I wondered
how many sacrifices one would present to the gods for one to write such a thick
book. A part of me pitied me, probably because I am a slow reader. I don’t deny
that too.
First
and worst of all, the book could be a torture. In fact, it is. Long sentences. That
may be Okri’s style; it didn’t work for me. I got distracted too many times. Re-reading
a paragraph full of long, winding sentences just to decode what exactly is
being said could really be tortuous. However, he made up for this with the
poetry of those sentences and the fact that most chapters are not your typical
page upon page stuff. Starbook has
half page chapters!
Anything
else I dislike about Starbook?
Erm…there was only one sex scene and it was poetic too. But we all know a good sex
scene is not Okri’s thing. He has got an award for a no good sex scene in his record. You don’t know? Google it. So, I forgive
him. Now don’t begin to think I was looking for sex scenes. All I wanted was to
read Okri. Not sex.
Ehen?
Is that all? Yes, Starbook is long
sentences, short (very short) chapters and poetry, but a delightful read. I know
you want to ask, ‘the torture nko?’
THERE.
WAS. NO. TORTURE. Haha…All that ish I introduced with was just to get anti-Okri
readers on my side, at least for some paragraphs into the post. Now, don’t stop
here, there is more to Starbook than its
long sentences, poetry and two hundred chapters.
Starbook tells the magical love
story of a prince and a maiden. It breaks your heart so many times, the
storyline. It just doesn’t want to end.
But there is more to Starbook
than that. One perceives that the author
has a penchant for the magical but he has got more than a penchant for
art. It is in Starbook that you’ll find men wooing ladies with art works. Thank
God the real world isn’t like that; so many men will be celibates. Or gays. In Starbook, people mourn a sick prince
with vigils characterised by art exhibitions. Then, there are powerful motifs
of visions and dreams. A king, for instance, rules his kingdom via dreams.
Imagine!
Starbook, for me
is all about one thing: art. Okri loads the book with meditations, his (I
think the narrator is Okri here), on art and the process of creation. Don’t ask
me how; go get your own copy. Let me
share these quotes I like:
(1)
‘The
most complex productions must appear simple and clear to the mind like a
portrait, or a line of rhyme, or a famous song that children sing. The works of
the greatest masters must be able to speak to the smallest child, or the
village idiot. (95-96)
(2)
‘The
spirit of words can’ be resisted because it is not heard, or is heard by
deeper, invisible ears.’ (201)
(3)
Go and get a copy of Starbook for your library *rolls eyes*
Midway
through Starbook, I saw Three Idiots again and you know what I
felt? I wanted to pay some obeisance to Okri. You don’t dig? I wanted to drop
my pants and shout ‘Your Majesty, thou art great, accept this offering’. A
writer is a god, quote me wherever. I didn’t enjoy reading Starbook but I love it. It stretched my imagination. Not all books
are meant to be enjoyed, sue me for saying that too. Most people I know have
read Teju Cole’s Open City didn’t
enjoy reading it yet, they love it.
I hope
you lay your hand on Starbook soon.
Disclaimer: This isn’t a review. It
doesn’t count as one in my books; just my thoughts on a book I love.
***
Do
have a lovely night rest.
